U.S. women to play for Olympic hockey gold

Team USA beat Sweden 6-1 on Monday to advance to the women's hockey gold medal game at the Olympics.

The U.S. got goals from Alex Carpenter, Kacey Bellamy, Amanda Kessel, Monique Lamoureux, Megan Bozek and Brianna Decker in the victory. Bozek, Decker and Kendall Coyne also had two assists in the game.

The U.S. will face Canada in the gold medal game on Thursday. Canada beat Switzerland 3-1 on Monday to advance.

Of the four gold medal games played since women's hockey was introduced at the 1998 Winter Olympics, three have featured the U.S. and Canada. Sweden is the only other team to have played in a gold medal game, losing to Canada in 2006.

The Swiss team will play Sweden in the bronze medal game immediately preceeding the gold medal matchup.

Team USA started off the Olympics with two dominating performances in Sochi, including a 9-0 rout of Switzerland in their second game.

The team got its first real challenge in Canada, with both 2-0 teams squaring off in battle Feb. 12 that ended with Team USA falling 3-2. It was the Canadians' third consecutive Olympic victory over the U.S., including the gold medal games in Vancouver and Salt Lake.

Both Canada and the U.S. had already secured their spots in the semifinals before their matchup, having earned the best records in Group A regardless of the game's outcome.

However, Canada's victory over the U.S. gave them the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

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